Despite police efforts to stamp out La Cosa Nostra in Italy, it seems to survive—and thrive, accounting for 7 percent of Italy’s GDP, says the Italian business association Confesercenti. (The report is in Itailian.) Read the Italian banking association’s report on surging bank robberies, also in Italian, here.
After reviewing over 600 youth violence prevention programs, the University of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence has chosen the 11 best.
Greynets, popular applications like instant messaging, P2P, and VoIP, are exposing companies to malware and intellectual property loss, costing companies $289,000 per year, reports one study.
A fired guidance counselor who promoted abstinence-only policies was not discriminated against, ruled a federal appeals court, because she was terminated for not following school policy rather than for her beliefs.
The radical Shiite terrorist organization isn’t just a problem in the Middle East, it’s a Latin American problem too, the commander of U.S. Southern Command tells Congress.
Two employees must pay their previous employer $4 million in damages for selling their consulting firm’s trade secrets, a federal appeals court ruled, upholding a prior jury verdict.
Government agencies responsible for aviation security, reports the GAO, must address leadership and technology problems to prevent accidents on airport runways.
A report from a private watchdog group criticizes the Department of Homeland Security for "billions of dollars in waste and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars."
Here is the Treasury Department’s announcement of its designation of nine individuals and two entities it says provided financial and logistical support to Hezbollah in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published this paper highlighting the financial ties between organizations in the Tri-Border Area and Islamist groups in the Middle East.
The State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism publishes annual reports on terrorism. Here is the April 2007 Western Hemisphere Overview.
Text of the Director of National Intelligence's national intelligence estimate on the geopolitical effects of global climate change and its impacts on national security.
San Francisco-based consultancy, GBN, wrote an influential climate change report describing dire consequences for national security for the U.S. Department of Defense in 2003.
The U.K. government published a detailed forecast, known as the Stern Review, of the possible impacts of climate change on the global economy. It says the cost of taking action to avert climate change now is far lower than the cost of coping with damage later.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear dozens of cases in its 2007-2008 session. However, it declined to hear more than 2,500 cases. This means that those not granted review by the Court remain unchanged. Some of the cases the Court rejected have implications for security professionals and managers in general. Following are a few of these decisions on topics including the ADA, hostile workplace, campus safety, and retaliation.
A federal appeals court ruled that a company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to let an employee return to work after he had a seizure.
A woman who sued her employer for allowing a hostile workplace cannot pursue her claim based on two separate incidents where she accidentally saw pornography that her male coworkers were viewing on company computers. However, the court ruled that she could pursue a claim based on the overall environment in which women were continually denigrated, called names, and placed in sexual situations.
A federal appeals court has ruled that a university cannot be held liable for an accident that killed 12 students and injured 27 others. The school, ruled the court, is protected from such lawsuits by qualified immunity—a legal theory that prevents government officials from being sued except in cases where a person’s constitutional rights are knowingly violated.
A woman who was fired after giving negative information about a coworker during an internal investigation cannot pursue a sexual harassment retaliation claim against her employer. According to a federal court, the woman has no grounds to sue since she was only a participant in the investigation, not the party that requested the investigation.
A bill (S. 2168) introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that would increase penalties for identity theft and fraud has been approved by the Senate. The House of Representatives has not announced whether it will take up the measure.
A bill (H.R. 4201) introduced by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) would require that state and local law enforcement agencies determine the immigration status of anyone arrested for a felony. If the accused is in the country illegally, he or she would be detained without the possibility of bail and would undergo federal deportation proceedings.
An new Arizona law (formerly S.B. 1042) amends existing data security statutes to include breaches of data maintained by law enforcement agencies. Prior to S.B. 1042, which requires that businesses in the state conduct an investigation after a breach of data security and notify those customers affected by the incident, law enforcement agencies were not exempt. Under the new law, the state department of public safety, county sheriff’s offices, and municipal police departments must develop an information security policy that includes notification procedures in case of a data breach.
A new Arkansas law (formerly H.B. 1041) requires that courts notify school districts when a student has been ordered to stay away from another student. Schools will also be notified when such restrictions are lifted.
Victor Breehe has filed a lawsuit against a Black & Decker manufacturing plant in Tennessee. Breehe failed a medical test used to predict whether an employee is likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Breehe claims that the test discriminates against those the company considers disabled, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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